Double tear-jerker at Fenway Park

Credit: Nancy Lane

It must have been hard for Red Sox fans young and old not to get caught up in the moment late yesterday afternoon as a seemingly never-ending cast of ex-Sox players wandered onto the playing field at 100-year-old Fenway Park.

Some of them were with the Red Sox but for a smidgeon of time. We’re talking about Billy Rohr, who came within an out of no-hitting the Yankees in his major league debut in 1967. And Gloucester’s Billy MacLeod, whose major league career consisted of two relief appearances in 1962. And Steve Lomasney, a one-time Peabody High phenom who got a couple of at-bats in ’99.

You wanted this Great Fenway Moment to just go on and on and on — partly because baseball and nostalgia are close, personal friends. But also because you knew, deep down, that soon the old Red Sox would give way to the present-day Red Sox.

Or, to put it another way: You cried during the pre-game ceremony .â€‰.â€‰. and then you cried during the game.

The old-timers were barely off the field before the 2012 Yankees had a run on the board en route to a 6-2 victory over the 2012 Red Sox, who have now lost four straight games and are a sad-sack 4-9 on the young season. Yesterday’s not-ready-for-prime-time player was right-hander Clay Buchholz, whose very presence serves as a sobering reminder of just how presumptuous people were about this team. Hello, McFly: Buchholz missed most of last season with a back injury; didn’t pitch again after June 16.

We can be charitable and label Buchholz a “work in progress,” and, yes, he did settle down in his last start (against Tampa Bay), but the overall numbers are not good. He gave up a whopping five home runs yesterday, and it’s not much of a silver lining to point out they were all solo jobs. He is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in three starts, and has allowed 23 hits in 17 innings.

“They were perplexing,” Sox manager Bobby Valentine said of the five solo shots. “He had a good curveball. His fastball location was located down. He’s still building. You know, he didn’t pitch (most of) last year. He’s still getting his feet under him.”

The purpose here isn’t to beat up Buchholz, who has shown he can be a winning big league pitcher when he’s healthy. But he is at the top of a long list of players who should have been listed as question marks, not givens, coming into this season. Daniel Bard, moving from the bullpen to the rotation, was a question mark. Josh Beckett, given the way he ended last season, not to mention the thumb injury, was a question mark.

Kevin Youkilis. Offseason surgery, question mark.

Shortstop? No matter the player, we’re talking question mark. (I still believe the Red Sox traded Marco Scutaro because they needed the $6 million to pay for yesterday’s Fenway Park birthday party.)

More board-certified, Major League Baseball-approved question marks coming into this season: Ryan Sweeney. Cody Ross. Vicente Padilla. Justin Thomas. So take a step back, and then factor in the ongoing Carl Crawford situation, the injuries to Andrew Bailey and Jacoby Ellsbury, and the Mark Melancon meltdown, and it should come as no surprise that the Red Sox are 4-9.

But fear not: First baseman Adrian Gonzalez offered a quick, “Absolutely,” when asked if he believes this team can turn things around. “We did it last year.”

They did. With Ellsbury assembling an MVP-caliber season. With Jonathan Papelbon as the closer. With Scutaro playing steady defense at shortstop .â€‰.â€‰. and so on.

That’s why comparing this slow start with the Red Sox’ slow 2011 start misses the point. Maybe it’s revisionist history, but most people believed the 2011 Red Sox would turn things around — which they did, until September.

But it takes winning streaks to move up in the standings, and it’s hard to see how this team, as it looks now, is capable of putting one together.

To be sure, that was one heck of a party the Red Sox held yesterday. But it’s not unfair to wonder if the party is over on a variety of levels.